by P. S. Power
That didn’t get so much as a chuckle from the man.
“I’ll be out of office by then. On the good side, the person following me seems to be stable and more interested in peace and friendly relationships than not. Dumas, could you write up a report about trade possibilities between our worlds? You can send it to me via Director Turner.”
It was kind of clear that the man was expecting something in crayon, or at least a different language, but he didn't want to insult the kid.
“I can do that sir. I’ll try to have the first one finished in a few days? That will only cover going from my world to yours. Then I might need to tour this place in order to learn enough to make good suggestions going the other way, if allowed. I’ll understand if it isn’t.”
“That sounds like a plan then. Turner, set that up? Thank you all for coming. Please let me know if you need anything that we can provide?” The man sounded a tiny bit off then, which had to do with his daughter, Maggie, having walked into the room.
“Oh! Space ships? I don’t suppose that I can go on one, sometime? I’d heard about the one that we got not long ago, but…” Her voice was a bit wistful, but not demanding really. Though it was painfully clear from the words used in her story that she’d been eavesdropping for nearly the whole conversation.
So Cindy rolled her eyes a bit and then clapped Clemance on the arm.
“Sure. Set that up. We’ll get space shields for you so it will be very safe. You have the numbers for here? That offer is good even after your dad is out as president, by the way. I hear you actually have connections of your own around here?” She kind of did, knowing several of the Operatives there and actually being friends with Bridget Chambers personally.
“Really? Neat. I get with Brian on that? Or Bridgie?”
“Actually…” She thought for a second, the girl thinking that she was going to have the offer pulled back for some reason. Probably because the first daughter got screwed over for her own safety a lot in life. The question was, did the former first daughter have to put up with that kind of thing as well.
She thought for a bit anyway.
“Actually, check in with Lydia, our receptionist here. She’s getting a promotion as a liaison with this other reality and possibly more than the one, so it’s worth meeting her. You can help with that, right? We don’t actually have anyone here that knows about State events and things of that nature. I’m betting that you’ve actually been to one or two. If you want to help.” She probably wasn’t going to be getting paid for the extra work, after all. Then, no one really was.
Dumas, not really getting the whole situation, but understanding that Cindy was attempting to get him another assistant, or possibly a future wife of noble birth, bowed toward the speaker phone a bit.
“That would be most welcome, if you have the time, of course? It’s clear that this is a position that will be as grand as we choose to make it. I would find your aid to be most welcome in it.”
His mother smiled, but covered it with a hand, not trying to embarrass her youngest son. Especially since she didn't really know if he was trying to seduce an adult woman or not, given the different worlds they were in. He certainly sounded old enough.
Cindy nodded then, since the kid was in the clear.
“That’s your signal to get with Lydia, Dumas. Maggie, let me get you the front desk number, so you can call back from a different phone?”
It was kind of clear that the President wasn’t all that certain about having his only daughter deal directly with Aliens, but he wisely didn't say anything about it in front of her. Cindy tracked them both, seeing a diagram of the room as the President watched his little girl leave the room he was sitting in. The note next to her even said, my little girl.
“Except that she isn’t one of those, is she, Sir? Maggie hasn’t even been a child in years. Plus, face it, if you get in the way of her having these nice aliens as friends, she’ll probably end up married to a Klingon in four years, having his bumpy headed child and fighting freighter captains for control of their ships. You can’t want that, can you?”
He was silent for so long that she worried he didn’t know what Star Trek was.
The man had seen the original version if nothing else, so did work out what she meant.
“Fine, but make sure she doesn’t run off with this Thomson fellow? He sounds pretty smooth.”
She nodded.
“He is. Also, ten years old. Which is more of a danger than it sounds like, since he’s cute, and his world runs at eight to one with ours, so in a year our time, he’ll be the same age as Maggie. Still, that’s the risk of life isn’t it? Someday some strange guy will come along and actually be the one… At least that’s the dream.” It hadn’t really worked that way for her.
For the longest time that hadn’t mattered either. She’d had her all-consuming hobby to make her life feel complete. Now it was a bit harder. The idea of finding a man and settling down, or at least having a regular date night with them, seemed a bit more reasonable.
Not that she really felt like the world was filled with good options for her that way. Really, in the people she knew at the moment, there was Willum Baker, who was going to be bouncing all over the scheme of reality sooner or later, Brian Yi, who wasn’t as good looking but who also had a decent girlfriend already and…
Well, there were other men around. Some more available than others. For instance, she’d never really even thought about giving Hobbs a shot that way. He was so intense that it didn’t really feel like he’d be interested. Then, she’d never asked him about it. There had been a girl in town, who was technically from his own reality, that he’d been interested in for a while, but she’d basically been ordered to break up with him. That was due to him being a super-villain who had stolen his own world’s power supply.
Then, instead of asking for unlimited wealth and power, he’d used the two kids as leverage to force his own people into growing the fuck up, and not part living human beings out an ounce at a time, to power their cities any longer.
So, to punish him, they’d exiled him from his own planet, and then tried to keep everyone from there away from him, so that he’d feel bad about it. He kind of did, but mainly because his buddy Elizabeth had been made to throw him away as well. Not that he hadn’t seen it coming.
Which, when she considered it, kind of meant that the man did like women that way. His head was almost always filled with martial arts practice notes, but some small space in there might be more open that way than not.
She stood there for a bit, then smiled when she understood that Marcia had politely suggested that she get her office back, even if the others were staying for dinner. The problem there was that if they stayed for six hours, that was two days for them back home, so they all kind of wanted to get back there, where time wasn’t going to dash away from them at a rate that seemed a bit harsh to handle.
On the good side, she could date Dumas in two years and the boy would even be her own age and everything.
They all packed out to the red hut on the side of the building, and she stood there as Will took them all through, one person at a time. They made polite small talk, though Clemance went last, and kissed her on the cheek before Will came back for him.
It was sweet and filled with enough hormones that she probably should have slapped the kid down instantly.
“Thank you, for thinking of us. Not everyone would have.”
She gave him a peck on the cheek back and a one-armed hug. The kind that signaled she wasn’t planning to put out that day.
“Different world or not, you’re my people. Don’t forget that.”
He didn’t get to speak about that, since Will came back then, not intending to return until he was needed to do that kind of thing. After all, he had other things to do. A cousin to get trained in things that he didn’t really understand at all, like escape and evasion. Thankfully he could fight well enough now to teach the boy that much. His head was swimming with plans th
ough, as to how to get it all done.
Before she could walk back inside, Christian Poures jogged over, wearing a nice long coat. It was tan, but official issue, meant to cover the fatigues she had on underneath.
“Karen mentioned that you wanted to see me? Outside the fence?” She didn’t try to connect mind to mind or anything.
“Yeah. Let’s go, if you have the time? Don’t worry, I just want your help with a sex tape. Things are getting a bit boring around here that way. I was thinking we could get Karen, Georgia and Brian to do one?”
There was a blink, as if the woman was actually considering the idea.
“That would play well in a certain market. Though we can also just get them in the tabloids to good effect, shall we talk about that as we walk?”
“Sure!” She tried to sound chipper, just so the woman wouldn’t think that she wanted to kick her behind or anything. That was silly, of course. They got along well enough, and even if she wasn’t the world’s warmest person, it wasn’t like she tortured people for fun. Anymore. She really missed it though. Not that she was taking it up again that day with Chris.
For a while they actually went over how to get people into the tabloids, who to contact about that and as they got about a quarter mile away, she related a bit about what kind of blackmail they might be able to use to get that done.
That got Christian to sigh.
“See, I always refused to help with that kind of thing. Charlot nearly kicked my behind last month, after you did that for her. Mainly because she always knew I could do it, but wouldn’t.”
“Which is actually why we’re here. You can do other things, right? Take over minds, or kill people at a distance? In Will’s world… it came up, so I killed a woman on Mars. I was on Earth at the time. It took some work, I won’t lie, but I didn't get much choice about it.”
Chris took a deep breath then shook her head.
“I think I could do that. Except that I’d live the death with them. I can take people over. Almost anyone. I haven’t really told anyone. A few people here know about it. Marcia. The old Director, Kevin Moore. Tobin actually worked it out on his own, which was impressive. You clearly know that you’ll have to hide it. Who here knows, other than me?”
She shrugged.
“Here at the moment? You, me… Will, if he comes around. The people on my team there. They could be in and out. Penny Cooper, Kerry kind of helped me do it, once… I just needed to get with you so that you wouldn’t be shocked that a psycho has that kind of power. I’m planning to use it. Mariah the Divine wind? I think I can end this problem we’ve been having. Actually, I can do more than just them, which might make the world slightly better off in the long run. The observation of our thoughts from space can be stopped, as well. They, the Mariah group, have that one tied up. Only, is that too evil, do you think? Taking out all those people like that?” She kind of knew the real answer there. If you had to ask if things like that were too bad to do, then they almost certainly would be.
Instead of berating her over it, the attractive forty-four-year-old heiress smiled a bit.
“I should say it is, but we can’t afford to let them destroy us. Especially since their real goal is so much larger than just removing you and I from the world, or even killing our friends. If this one world were to be destroyed as they wish, this one reality, then billions would fall with it. They know that, which means that we need to prevent that from happening. I don’t know if they can do it, but they certainly have the connections to harm us, here. The IPB, the President, others…”
Cindy nodded.
“Right then. I need to make sure no one knows that it’s us first. Do you want to stay for that? If anyone asks we can pretend we were getting our girl groove on. Now there’s a sex tape idea that would sell. I mean you doing it, not me. Maybe you could get with Penny for that?” It could be kinky enough, at the very least.
The woman didn't speak then, letting Cindy find a tree to lean up against, which didn't leave her dry, but did let her prop herself up as she worked through all the people that had to die right then. She found that, lacking a handy Tim Baker to help her focus, it took her far longer than twenty seconds to get each of the people to die. About half an hour for each one. It really did work though, and after three and a half hours, she moved away from the tree. To find that Christian Poures was standing right there, next to her, just waiting.
Even if Cindy was another person.
Finally that part clicked.
“Oh, you had the gene therapy to get rid of your mode?”
There was a nod then, and a small smile.
“Long enough ago that I don’t even find myself wanting to flee from you right now. It’s so strange. For a long time it was just a part of me. A thing that ruled every part of my day. I had to be alone, even though I never could be, in my head. Now I still hear it all, but it’s just sound and pressure, not something that makes me want to flee from myself. I’ve been speaking to mother and father about it… They and some of their friends are interested in fronting a medical program to help Infected people get rid of their first modes. Interestingly, half the prospective donors are people that would politely be called horrible bigots. It really does take away the worst of their fears about us, though. It will take, oh, hundreds of billions, to make it happen. We probably can’t, but if even a few people can have this…”
She nodded then, and smiled.
“That sounds great. Okay, well, I probably can’t do much for that, but if I can, let me know and I’ll give it a shot. Now, we aren’t going to be monitored by anyone from space today. All of the satellites just had a catastrophic collision, and then all the operators that knew they were there passed away of various things. It won’t keep the government from putting cameras back up again, but Mariah and the other groups don’t have the ability to use that specific technology against us like they have been. So next time we can just meet in the break room and put tape over the cameras.”
That got a nod, as if it might actually be real one day.
Cindy went on.
“More to the point, I can actually do the rest of this from my room now. That will be drier and probably more comfortable. Oh, um… Can you get with Kerry, if that isn’t a first mode issue for you now? She needs a friend. It probably can’t be me. We had to kill a bunch of people together, so I used her power for it. My fault, but she needs someone to blame. Other than herself. Since it really was me, it would probably help if you could reassure her of that? I don’t think she’ll trust it, coming from me.”
That would mean that she just had to get with Sara, and not leave the girl hanging for too long. There was a lot to do there, but thankfully, she was more or less just a little kid. That gave them some time, as long as they didn't screw up too often with her. Thinking of that, she nodded, then walked inside the gate with Chris, parting ways at the door of the dining hall, since the other woman was meeting with Tobin for dinner.
“Oh, right… I mentioned to Kerry that you weren’t vamping her boytoy, for a reason. It made about three hours of my life easier. She knows not to bring it up, however. She still might. After all, it’s a pretty unlikely story, isn’t it?”
That got a strained look that hadn’t been there the entire time they were out, to cross the slightly pale face in front of her.
“It truly isn’t. Well, we just need to protect my sister. Perhaps it wouldn’t harm anything for her to know about that in a more first hand fashion?” Then she went in, moving to the cafeteria looking side of things almost instantly.
For her part, even though she was kind of hungry, she needed to locate Sara, who was busily making a cake. As in, she’d already baked the giant thing, but she was doing some better than average decorations for it. Mark was guiding her into it, but the chocolate thing looked like it was being made by a professional.
The man, who seemed almost normal now, not being afraid all the time, smiled gently. That part was fascinating to see. Before she’d thought
that he had to stay calm all the time to fight his fear, which had been true. But now she could see that he was also a really good person, even without that modifier on his life. It showed in every thought he had about Sara, who currently looked like a thirteen-year-old girl who could have lied and claimed to be fifteen without anyone caring to check the facts.
“Good, keep the movement and pressure steady. Focus on the line behind you….” They kept going, as she stayed back, so that the girl wouldn’t ruin what she was working on by jumping to hug her. When the top was finished though, she stopped, wiped her hands on a damp rag, then actually did half tackle her into a hug. It was a big thing, but not too hard. Done with perfect control as a matter of fact. A thing that Mark had just been working with her on, in the form of cake making magic.
“Sara!”
“Cin! Are you back for a few days now, or…” She tried really hard not to seem needy or bratty about it all, which was showing in her words. Apparently, she’d been filled in by Queen Tiera as to what had been going on in that other world, in regards to her.
She’d hidden most of it, but did know about her killing Princess Allison’s double from a planet away. Which she wasn’t going to mention to anyone. After all, sometimes people had to kill others, for good reasons. That was how she was explaining it all to herself. The deaths of all those people that Penny, Kerry and Cindy had gotten. They were bad, so had to die.
Which was great psycho logic, but probably wasn’t that healthy for a little girl to be considering.
“I should be mainly around now. Maybe gone for a day or two here or there. Next time I go, I’ll see if you can come along? I mean if it’s to a different reality. If I’m going someplace here it will probably be boring for you.” She meant that bit, but got a teen eye roll for her trouble and a snicker from Mark.
He wasn’t being mean though. Far from it.
“Hey, I need my helper back. You should probably go and get something to eat. We need to put some better than decent roses on this bad boy. Ready, Sara?”